Corey wins Republican primary for U.S. Senate, will face Murphy in November

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Republican Matthew Corey, a 54-year-old Hartford window washer and pub owner, will challenge U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in the general election in November.

The Associated Press called the GOP primary in Corey’s favor at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday. By 11 p.m., with 75 percent of the districts counted, Corey was ahead of Dominic Rapini by 77.26 percent to 22.74 percent.

“I feel great. We ran a clean race,” Corey said shortly after learning of his win. “This is a road toward making Connecticut better. It’s not about defeating Dominic. It’s not about any of that. We’re both on the same team.”

Corey noted that the victory was sweet after running hard for six years for Congress and earning statewide name recognition.

As the GOP-endorsed candidate in the primary, Corey relied on his blue-collar background to appeal to voters. Corey unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House in Connecticut’s 1st District in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

This year, he had raised only $28,090 as of July 31, according to latest federal campaign finance reports. He goes into the general election with only $7,973 on hand, compared with Murphy’s $8.5 million campaign war chest.